This invention discloses a specially adapted joy stick holder particularly adapted for improving the ease of use of a joy stick or a device used for the input to a computer of a vector as commonly used in input to computers for control of visual or graphics displays.
A number of devices have been developed to aid in the input of information to computers or computerized devices which are used in the creation, manipulation, or display of graphical information. In general, graphical information requires that the user be able to input positional and directional information directly into the computer.
Very early graphics programs required that the user essentially type into a standard typewriter style keyboard a phrase or a command for each of the standard directions and for any given position. This results in a phenomenon which can be seen in current personal computers, where the user must remember that a display is forces of dots formed by intersecting vertical and horizontal lines; one will commonly see commands typed in the form of the vertical number and then a horizontal number, meaning to the computer that a dot is to be lit or extinguished at the dot at the intersection of those two lines on the display.
It can be seen from the foregoing that this is a very crude method of creating pictures on a computer, requiring extensive typing for even the simplest of figures, it is incapable of putting in any sort of rapid information.
The growth of video games has required the invention and development of simple, low cost, easily reproducible devices that are capable of inputting a great deal of graphic information very quickly. This has given rise to a number of movement sensitive devices. One is the track ball, which is a small ball moved by being rubbed by the hand, coupled to sensors which interpret the ball's movement as though it were moving a dot of light around the display screen. Another is the light pen, which is held against the display to mark a particular spot. The most common device, however, because of its ease of use, its adaptability to general human factors design, and the ease with which it can be manufactured is the joy stick.
In general, a joy stick comprises a base, and a manipulable rod or handle extending vertically out of the base. Some form of sensor is provided in the base to translate the relative position of this rod into computer compatable electrical signals. The user, in order to input positional information into the computer, will hold the base in one hand or against a surface and will push in any one of a number of directions upon the stick denoting to the computer a particular direction or movement.
The widespread growth in video games, their decreasing cost and increasing popularity, have made the joy stick a very widely seen device.
Most common joy sticks provided for video games are of extremely simply construction. In order that they may be properly mass-produced at low cost, they have very few moving parts. By comparison, an industrial joy stick, such as may be seen in the more expensive terminals used for professional graphics work, is a precision device involving compensating springs for mechanical feel and feedback to the rod and positioning potentiometers or variable resistences to detect the degree of motion of the joy stick. In some sophisticated joy stick installations, such as may be found in some military applications, there are also electro-mechanical linkages designed to give computer generated tactile feedback to the user. Such a device obviously is far too expensive for use for a video game designed for mass consumption.
As a result, the typical video game joy stick is commonly found to contain a simple switching mechanism triggered by pressure from manipulation of the rod to detect one of four directions in which the rod may have been pushed. Such switches are commonly made of various forms of spring loaded plastic and aluminum foil which may be mass produced at very low cost by using techniques developed for mass production of printed circuits; unfortunately, these switches give almost no tactile feedback through the joy stick to indicate that they have been actuated. They are simply on and off devices.
The sophistication of modern computer chips and modern microcomputers are such that the programs and software of the game manufacturer are able to compensate for the simplicity of the joy stick. However, such a joy stick produces various human factors problems in its use as may readily be determined from the realization that the simplicity of the manufacture and the reduction of the number of parts has resulted in elimination of almost all of the users sense of feel. It is common therefore to see people pushing joy sticks quite hard and the actual design of the cheaper joy sticks are such that they will readily resist these forces.
When a user is engaged in an active video game or other activity requiring rapid hand responses, the manulipulating on the rod often instead results in the user moving the entire joy stick mechanism. If this happens, no force is imposed upon the switches and the joy stick ceases to register. This leads to a situation where the joy stick actually is putting irregular inputs into the game, causing extreme frustration on the part of the user, especially in the case where the user is a small child or handicapped video game player.
It is obviously infeasible to substitute a several thousand dollar professional grade joy stick into a video game environment. It is therefore necessary if there is any improvement to be made in the manipulation of the joy stick to utilize existing joy sticks by providing some method for increasing the reliability of its use and the comfort and ease with which it may be manipulated.